Air-compressor



(No Model.) 1

, s. GUTHRIB.

AIR COMPRESSOR.

No'. 417,482. Patented Dec. 1'7, 1889.

N. PETERS. Phnmuxlwgnpher. wnshiugmn, D. C.

` of filling and discharging.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL GUTHRIE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AIR-COMPRESSOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of` Letters Patent No. 417,482, dated December` 17, 1889.

Application led December 12, 1888. Serial No. 293,369. (No model.)

To 6056 whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL GUTHRIE, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, haveinvented an Improvement in Air-Compress0rs5 and I herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip- .tion of the same.

My invention relates to an automatic apparatus for compressing air; and it consists in a combination of mechanism which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is an end view of my apparatus.

The object of my invention is to employ a column of watervunder pressure to compress air from a compressing-chamber into a receiver, the water being alternately admitted to and discharged from the chamber, so that when it is admitted it will force a body of air from this chamber into a receiver, and when discharged another'body of air will be admitted to' be again compressed, the operation being conducted automatically by the action A and B are two chambers, one serving as a compressor and the other as a receiver. In the present case I have shown these chambers in the form of horizontal cylinders lying side by side; but it will be manifest that any other suitable or convenient form of chamber may be employed. In the chamber A, ,I have shown an extension C from the lower part, into one side of which the supply-pipe I) enters. This. Vsupplypipe connects with a chamber having a balanced valve E, of any usual or suitable construction, through which the water may pass from the pipe into the chamber,l when the valve is opened, until the chamber A is lilled. Within the same extension C, as at present shown, is another balancedvalve F, connecting with a dischargepipe Gr, through which, when the valve F is opened, the water may bev discharged from the chamber A. These valves have the stems II and I, which pass up through the top of the chamber A and are connected with a lever-J at points eqnidistantfrom the fulcrum K, so that when the lever is moved `to open one valve it will close the other, and vice versa. lIn order to open and close these valves,

I employ a float L, which rises and falls within the chamber A, having suitable guides to keep it in line. N Vith the present construction I haveshown the chamber A provided with extensions above and below, as shown at M, these extensions being of sufficient diameter to allow the float L to pass into them while it is at its lowest and highest points; but it will be manifest that if the chamber A were elongated vertically it would not be necessary to make these additional extenj sions.

N is a rod extending up through the'top of the upper chamber M and passing down through the center of the float L. Upon the upper end of this rod is a device for the operation of the valve-lever J It consists of a diamond-shaped piece O, attached to the rod N and having projections or lugs Pat points. l

above and below the end of the lever J, (which is extended upon this side, so as to pass across the face of the Vdiamond-shaped piece O and between the lugs P P.)

Q Q are two lever-arms fulcrumed upon a supporting-frame at R, depending therefrom, and havingu pon the'lower ends anti-friction Wheels or rollers S, which travel in contact with the opposite inclined edges of the diamond plate O. These levers are provided Vwi th weights, as shown at WV, or with equivalent springs, which cause the lower ends to close or draw' together with considerable force. It will be manifest. thatwhen these rollers S S are pressingl upon the inclined edges of the plate O, either above orl below the widest point of the plate, they will cause the plate to slide up or down, as the case may be, and by means of the pins P will move the lever J, and thus actuate the valves E and F through their connecting-rods H and I.

The operation will then be as follows: The chamber A being empty, the iioat L will be at its lowest point, and the upper pin l on the plate O, which is attached to the rod N, will have engaged the lever J, and forced it down, so as to open the inlet-valve E and close the outletvalve F. Vater from the pipe D will then Iiow into the chamber A from the valve E, and as the' chamber iills will gradually raise the float L until the upper portion of the iioat comes in contact with the collar T,

cur while the float vis still a short distance from its highest point, and the subsequent upward movement of the iioat will move the rod N upward, carrying with it the plate O. The edges of the plate moving between the the rollers S will separate them until they have passed the angles of the plate which are widest apart horizontally, the distance between the pins P P allowing of this movenient without moving the levers J or the valves. As soon as the rollers S have passed the angles of the plateO and are upon the inclined lower edges of the plate the action of the weight or spring tending to close the lower ends of the lever together will by this action move the plate O suddenly upward, carrying with it the rod N, and the lower pin P, being then in contact with the lever J, will act so as to suddenly reverse the valves E and F, closing the inlet-valve and opening the outlet-valve. The air with which the chamber A was filled before the water was admitted will be forced out by the pressure of the incoming water passing through the check-valve at U and upward through the pipe V, passing over into the airlehambcr B, where it will be compressed to a degree corresponding with the head or pressure of water which is admitted into the compressing chamber A. As soon as the valves E and F are reversed by the action previously described the water will commence to iiow out of the escape-pipe G and the iioat L will again move downward until it engages with another collar T upon the lower part of the rod N, when thc rollers S will again be spread by the downward movement ot' the plate O, and the sudden action and reversal of the valves will take place when the float has reached the bottom by the pressure of the rollers upon the upper inclined sides of the plate O, which will again reverse the valves. As soon as the water commences to escape from the chamber A the check-valve U in the pipe V will close, so as to prevent any escape of air from the chamber B. At the same time the valve at IV will be opened to admit another charge of air to the ehamberA. In this manner I am enabled to automatically compress air into large or small quantities and to any degree, limited only by the pressure of the column of water which is supplied to the compressing-chamber A.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

I. The chamber A, with a rising and falling float, the air-supply, and the water inlet and outlet valves, with the corresponding supply and discharge pipes, a fulcrumed lever connected with said valves, so that the movement of the lever opens one valve and closes the other simultaneously, in combination with a rod the upward or downward motion of which is commenced by the rising and falling of the float, a cam-plate 0,1i`xed to said rod,and weighted arms Q, pressing upon the edges of the cam-plate, so that when the widest portion of the plate has passed between them the final movement will be completed suddenly by the action of the arms upon the inclined sides of the plate, and pins or connections whereby the valve-operating mechanism will be moved at the same time, substantially as herein described.

2. A chamber A, with air inlet and outlet valves in the upper part, a receiver with which the air-outlet is connected, water inlet and outlet valves in the lower part, with supply and discharge pipes connected therewith, an oscillating lever with which said valves are connected, a vertical sliding rod having pins xed to it above and below the end of the oscillating level', so as to engage the stem, and a diamond-shaped cam-plate fixed to and movable with the rod, in combination with a rising and falling float within the chamber A, collars fixed to the vertical rod N so as to be engaged by the float before reaching its highest or lowest point, and weighted leverarms Q, so fulcrumed that their lower ends press upon the edges of the cam-plate and are spread by the upward or vdownward movement of the rod N and cam-plate until they pass the widest .portion of the cam, after which the pressure of the levers completes the movement of the rod and cam-plate and by the action of the pins on the camplate or its rod moves the oscillating lever and reverses the position of the water-valves, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

SAML. GUTI-IRIE.

lVitnesscs:

S. H. NoURsE, H. C. LEE.

IOO 

